You want some Spartan with that?
by Pandabear63
Summary: Halo, with a twist. Linda is alive and well, and helping John throughout the events of Halo. Are they the last of the spartans? And do more remain?
1. Prologue

Darkness. Zap. And then, she heard voices, sounding like they were a light- year away. Zap. And then the voices, the voices were more clear, but still, somehow, distant.  
  
"Wait, I've got a faint pulse. Give her another charge."  
  
"Clear!" Zap.  
  
"Strong pulse. She's back with us."  
  
"Great job, Sam. Get into Cryo-Theater two and wake up the other one. The skipper wants him up by the time those covie bastards get here. With luck, we can hold the ship long enough to make another slip-stream jump."  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
***  
  
"Tube shows green. Cycle complete."  
  
"Sorry for the quick thaw Master Chief," said a tech chief as his cryo's door slipped open, "the disorientation should pass quickly."  
  
"Welcome back, sir, we'll have you battle ready stat." exclaimed the tech in the theater overlooking Cryo-bay two.  
  
"Please look around the room, I need to get a calibration reading for your battle suit's diagnostics." the tech chief said.  
  
"OK, I'm bringing your health monitors online."  
  
"Vital signs look normal, no freezer burns. Alright, step out of the tube and follow me to the targeting station." Targeting and shield testing were uneventful, but after his shield was charged, the captain's voice came over the bay's comm.  
  
"Cryo two, send the Master chief to the bridge at once."  
  
"But sir, we'll have to skip the weapons diagnostics and. . ." the tech started to complain, but the captain cut him off,  
  
"On the double, crewman."  
  
"Aye, aye, sir. The skipper seems jumpy, we better get moving. Sam, you better get to your evac group."  
  
"Yes, sir." he had barley time to finish, before an explosion sounded and super-heated plasma was spraying into the theater. "Security to cryo two. . ." 'Sam' managed to say before he fell over in a heap, dead.  
  
"Come on, we've got to get the hell out of here!" the tech chief said, and ran for the door. In the hall, the Master Chief heard the 'clickity-clack' sound of his boots on the metal floor, only to be matched a seconds later by another 'clickity-clack' in unison with his. A quick glance sideways and he saw a S2 AM sniper rifle, and when he saw it's owner, he was in awe. 


	2. The Pillar of Autumn

Linda. It was Linda. Spartan sniper, and a dead shot, too. The weird thing was, she was dead. Linda died on Reach, and the Master Chief had brought her body back and put it into the cryo bay. The techs must have gotten her body out, and sent a series of electric charges through her body, and gotten her heart and brain to work again.  
  
"Nice to see you." John said.  
  
"The same to you." She replied. She had had her sniper when she went into 'the freezer', and had it out now. John was weaponless. Not that it mattered, seeing that he would get a weapon either at the bridge or on the way there.  
  
"This way!" The tech said, right before an explosion knocked him off his feet, and cutting their reunion short.  
  
"So, where are we suppose to go?" Linda asked, obviously confused.  
  
"Well, the captain wants to see me, and he probably won't object to you coming, too. This is a Halcyon-class cruiser, so let's go over these pipes." said John, " I haven't got any weapons, except for a few grenades, so you'll have to watch my back." he added.  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
***  
  
While the spartans were fighting their way across the cruiser, the bridge was fighting their way across space.  
  
"Sir, the Covenant have taken out Long sword groups alpha and beta. Charlie squadron is encountering heavy resistance and can't survive much longer." reported Lieutenant Dominique.  
  
"Right, tell them to fall back to the cover of the ship." The junior officer understood. The Autumn had forty fifty-millimeter cannons to handle point defense, and they would make short work of their new seraph friends.  
  
"Where are those spartans?" the captain asked.  
  
"Coming down through the armory, they should be here in a moment. True to the prophecy, moments later two MJOLNIR clad warriors stepped into the bridge.  
  
"Captain Keyes." said the lead one.  
  
"Good to see you Master Chief. Things aren't going so well. Cortana tried her best, but we never really had a chance."  
  
Cortana popped up on the AI pedestal, "A single halcyon-class ship against a dozen superior covenant battleships. With those odds, I'm content with three. . . make that four kills. Sleep well?" she added.  
  
"No thanks to your driving, yes."  
  
"So you did miss me." a thundering shock that sent everyone off of their feet stopped her.  
  
"Mam, firing control for the MAC cannon is offline!" an ensign reported.  
  
"That cannon was my last defensive option, captain." Cortana replied calmly.  
  
"Thats it, then. Were abandoning the Autumn. And that means you, too, Cortana."  
  
"While you do what, go down with the ship?" Cortana complained  
  
"In a manner of speaking. The ring we found, I'm going to try to land her on it."  
  
"With all due respect, this war has enough dead heroes."  
  
"Noted, Cortana, but we don't really have a choice. Capture or destruction of a shipboard AI is unacceptable. Now, Master Chief, here are your orders: protect Cortana at all cost, and get her off this ship. If they find her, they learn everything, forced deployment, weapons research," he paused for a moment ",Earth." he paused to give John Cortana's AI chip.  
  
"Your architecture isn't much different from the Autumn's." she proclaimed.  
  
"Don't get any funny ideas." Captain Keyes gave the petty officer a M6D pistol. Not much for elites, but good enough for grunt-work.  
  
"I don't keep it loaded, son, you'll have to find ammo on the way." They both exchanged nods, and John and Linda walked off. Ammo, as it turned out, came just moments later from a dead ensign. He picked up the ammo, while Linda closed her eyelids.  
  
Three grunts awaited them in the hallway ahead, but a grenade made quick work of them. In the cafeteria, marines and Covenant were fighting. John picked up a MA5B, while Linda sent a 14.5mm slug up blue-boy's neck, and after that, the rest fell quickly. With the support of two Spartans, the marines were quickly winning the battle. But then, about four elites and ten grunts entered. A grenade took out four of the grunts immediately, and with the combined efforts of spartans and marines, the elites fell over in heaps, dead. The remaining grunts retreated into the hallway, but were shot in the back and killed.  
  
"Just like old times, huh?" Linda asked.  
  
"Just like old times." Throughout the winding corridors of the ship, they encountered many 'new friends', Covenant who had gotten cut off from their group. Had. It seemed like forever until Cortana said "Covenant. On the landing above us."  
  
Linda shot an entire clip, and two grunts and an elite came to rest. Sensing that John and Linda were the primary threats, the Covenant focused their fire on them, allowing the marines to take down the target of their choice. The entire battle took about two minutes, and the spartans were down the next hall, where there was yet another cluster of covies. A grenade took out most of them, and sustained burst made them rest fall quickly. Soon they were at a trio of lifeboats. Two of them had launched, but the third was still there, but for how long they were unsure.  
  
"Linda, get aboard now." John said  
  
"No, we're in this together and. . ." Linda complained  
  
"That's an order."  
  
"Yes, sir." Linda said gloomily.  
  
"See you on the surface," he said, and upon seeing Sergeant Johnson, added, "Take care of her, Sergeant."  
  
"Sir!" When the lifeboat was off, he continued his search for his boat. It was very casual, going through the matinence hallways, 'disposing' of a few covenant, and finally to the Cryo-bay operation theater. Upon seeing three maroon elites on the ground level of the bay, Cortana said,  
  
"Looks like they wanted to catch you napping." A shiver ran down his spine. Things once again seemed to be on fast-forward, as it was almost no time before he was out seeing a familiar seen, that of marines and covenant 'exchanging their love'. With the Master Chief there, the tide of the battle quickly changed in favor if the UNSC. When all of the covie bastards were down, they continued on to yet another battle. One, two, count three grenades, and the battle was over.  
  
"There's one last lifeboat. Quickly, get aboard!" As they stepped into the door, a marine lay crouched on the floor.  
  
"Oh, no!" A speedy hurl and both the marine and the Master Chief were on board.  
  
"Punch it."  
  
"Aye, aye sir." Soon, they were out of the hull and speed increased.  
  
"What is that thing lieutenant?" a marine asked  
  
"Hell if I know, but we're landing on it. Touch down in five"  
  
"The Autumn, she's been hit!" another marine proclaimed.  
  
"I knew it, the Autumns accelerating, Keyes is going in manually!" Cortana said, and as things got bumpy, she added, "You're sure you wouldn't rather take a seat?"  
  
"We'll be fine." he tightened his grip, and the sped into Halo, whatever it was. 


	3. Halo

A lone lifeboat hurled into Halo's atmosphere.  
  
"We're coming on too fast!"  
  
"Damn! Airbrake failure. I'm losing her! Brace for impact!" the lifeboat jockey yelled back to her passengers. The lifeboat shuddered as it hit a tree, than slammed into the ground.  
  
***  
  
The Master Chief slowly started to regain conciseness. A throbbing ach in his head told him he was still alive, and then he heard Cortana yell, "Chief! Chief, can you hear me?!"  
  
"You don't have to yell, I'm right here." he replied as he started to take the weapons of his fallen comrades.  
  
"Oh, really? Sensors pick up a covenant drop ship inbound. They're looking for survivors." He stepped out of the boat and saw five bodies that broke out during the landing sequence. Cortana added, "The others, the impact. There is nothing more we can do. We should head into the hills to evade the patrols." And head into the hills they did. Across a narrow bridge without rails, and behind a tree to watch those bastards get out of their U-shaped drop ship. But what he hadn't anticipated was two banshee escorts. Flying around overhead, trying, yet failing, to notice any humans that had escaped the lifeboat's area. They left with the drop ship, leaving only the handful of covies behind. But they were in flanking position, so they had to be dealt with sooner or later. And he chose sooner. Putting his M6D to x2, he carefully counted five grunts, one elite. Perfect. He sent a round sailing into the forehead of the nearest grunt, and he fell over, not knowing what had hit him. The other four grunts led similar fates. By the time the elite even noticed, all of his squad was dead. The Chief put a fresh magazine into his pistol, and unloaded it onto the elite. Done and done. Continuing the course up the hill, he spotted more covenant. He dealt with this squad like the first. Continuing on yet again, he finally heard the familiar sounds of automatic fire and energy weapons. A firefight. Automatic weapons means marines. And marines mean Linda. As he came around a pass, multiple names came up on his friend-or-foe indicator: SGT.JOHNSON, PVT.O'BRIAN, PVT.BISENTI, PVT.JENKINS, SPARTAN-153, and the names of various crewmen. He set out to mop up the remaining covies, and when the deed was done, a marine, private O'Brian, said, "Glad you could make it, sir. Welcome to the party."  
  
"Where's your sergeant?" the Master Chief asked  
  
"Over there." the marine said and made a motion over his shoulder.  
  
"It's a mess, sir. We're scattered all over this hill," the sergeant said, and in a hushed voice, continued, "Until you showed up, I thought we were cooked."  
  
"Don't worry, we'll stay here until evac arrives." Cortana said over the chief's speakers. He saw on his motion tracker that Linda was on top of the structure, a prime place for sniping. He went up a ramp, and went right behind her without her noticing. She appeared to be examining her leg, and her shin armor was off.  
  
"You alright?" John asked. She looked up, and seemed startled. Linda quickly grabbed her leg armor, snapped it back on in place, and said, "Alright. Never been better." She was hiding something, and he couldn't figure out why. "You can tell me."  
  
"I'm alright." Linda said once again.  
  
"Hmmm. . ."  
  
"Covenant dropship inbound." a marine yelled. The chief jumped down and readied his assault rifle, just in time to see four grunts, three jackals, and an elite step out. A crack of a sniper, and the first of the jackals was down. With the combine force of John, Linda, and a the marines, the covenant quickly melted away. The next three dropships also dropped their occupants to their death under a hail of armor-piercing bullets. In no time, Foehammer said, "This is Echo-419 to any UNSC forces. Anybody readin' me?"  
  
"We read you five-by-five, Echo-419. Is that you Foehammer? We have survivors and need immediate dust-off." Cortana said, "Foehammer will be here soon, but we still have about five minutes." The chief surveyed the valley, and something caught his attention. Up on the structure, the marines were crowded around Linda, and she had her leg armor off again. But they also seemed interested.  
  
"Cortana, could you open a comm with them?"  
  
"Sorry, but they're using a complex secure channel," a pause as he went up the ramp, "Got it."  
  
It was a marines voice, "Yeah, look at the skin, its all black and charred."  
  
"Plasma scoring. It makes sense, you were the first off the lifeboat, right? And they were already waiting for you? Man, that's got to hurt." The chief had no idea of what they were talking about until he was right behind them. Linda's leg had been hit by an overcharged plasma pistol blast.  
  
"Linda. . ."  
  
"What? Oh. . ." She hurried to put her armor back on.  
  
"No, wait. Does anyone have a med pack? Right, get the self-filling biofoam." He took the bottle, and said, "This might sting."  
  
"Agh!" She gritted her teeth as the foam filled her wound. But in a few seconds, it was over. But it felt like forever. Soon, Foehammer came over the comm "Echo 419 inbound. Clear the drop zone." A moment later, she came in. Cortana said, "Look, up there. More lifeboats. Foehammer, we need you to disengage your warthog. The Chief and I are going to see if we can save some soldiers."  
  
"Copy that, Cortana, warthog deployed."  
  
"Linda, do you want to go on the pelican? Want to go to Alpha base?" John asked.  
  
"I never give up without a fight," she said, "I'm coming with you." So, with his MJOLNIR enhanced strength, he gently picked Linda off the ground, careful not to disturb her fragile leg. With the same fluid-like movement, he placed her in the passenger seat of the recently dropped warthog. With her S2 in hand, she carefully scanned the horizon. He almost laughed, but checked the motion. She truly wasn't going to give up without a fight. So, with a marine, PVT. FITZGERALD, in the driver seat, he sat down at the LAAG.  
  
"Private, I trust you know how to drive a 'hog?" the Master Chief asked.  
  
"Yes, sir!" the marine shouted back.  
  
"Then go!" Fitzgerald took off, putting the warthog at full speed up un- even terrain. After going up their third hill, they saw the pelican fly over their heads and up, above a cliff, and out of sight. They went down into a canyon, to the opening of a cave. The cave looked strange. "This cave is not a natural formation. Someone built it, so it must lead somewhere." They entered the cave, and it was large. Not large, huge, big enough to drive a scorpion tank. They got through with ease. Soon they were at what looked like a Covenant outpost. Fitzgerald turned the hog so that Linda was facing the covies.  
  
"Can you get a clear shot?" John asked. Linda answered with three resounding 'crack's of her sniper rifle, and the elite and the grunt patrolling the road were killed. More came to investigate, and all of them accepted the same fate. By the time they actually realized what happened, they had lost ¼ of their ranks. The remaining elites forced a counter- attack quickly, and Linda had too many targets to choose from. John and Fitzgerald both helped, with Fitzgerald using the cover of the hog to fire his MA5B, and the Master Chief spraying the LAAG over them. The entire battle took about fifteen minutes, with a carpet of blue and purple blood on the road. they pulled out and went to what should be a bridge. Cortana instructed him to get out, go up a ramp (though she didn't tell him about two elites there) and to a control panel. He seemed to know what buttons to press, and he did. A light bridge came out, and he retraced his steps back to the hog.  
  
"How did you know what buttons to press?" she asked.  
  
"I didn't." Back at the warthog, Fitzgerald barley waited for him to get back in before he started the engine again. They went across the light bridge, through more lengths of cave, and finally, out to the surface. They went up a hill, through a river, and over a jackal. The group stopped only to battle a convoy of jackals. They went into a valley, and Cortana broke the silence.  
  
"We should check those structures before we leave." Those structures, it seemed, were under heavy guard from covenant, who were trying to battle their way inward. With the Chief on the LAAG, Linda on the sniper, and Fitzgerald driving over anything that moves, or moved, those covies didn't stand a chance. When all the enemies were cleared, the chief went into the buildings. At the basement were some marines and crewmen, and all of them were relived to see him. Cortana went over his suit's comm again,  
  
"Foehammer, we have additional survivors and are awaiting dust off."  
  
"Copy that, Cortana. Echo 419 inbound." In what seemed like no time, all of the humans were on the transport, and they were off again. They were at the head of a river, when the warthog came to a stop, for a good reason. A familiar sound. Banshees. Linda sent an armor-piercing round into the nose of one of the aircraft, and it cut through a number of primary systems before entering the pilot's head. By the time the banshee hit the ground, the banshee and the pilot were dead. And anti-aircraft bullets tend to take down banshees with extreme efficiency. The dropship they were escorting left its troops before retreating. Linda and the Chief concentrated their fire on the elites, then the jackals, and then the grunts that had survived the first of the attacks. And so they went into yet another valley, this one with a large hill.  
  
"There, the marines are up in those rocks." So they went over the rocks, a tree and a few jackals until they were at the top of the hill.  
  
"Good to see you, Master Chief. We're stuck up in this hill, we were in a bad way," he looked at Linda, who seemed to be in a trance, looking down the hill. "Maim, are you even listen-" Crack! Crack! Crack! Linda fired what remained if her clip, before adding a fresh one. Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! She continued like this until there were no remaining threats.  
  
"Wow. Just, wow." the corporal said as he stared, awestruck, at Linda.  
  
"Foehammer, we are ready for another ride back to base." Cortana said.  
  
"Already? But it's only been a few minutes."  
  
"Yes, already. Area is clear. Drop in now." They waited for about twenty minutes, Foehammer was probably still dropping off the others when they called. While they waited, Linda pocketed some clips from a dead solider, and also took his dog tag. When Foehammer came, it was time to go. Their next journey went un-opposed. The rocky region that they came to seemed to have a lifeboat.  
  
"There. Marines are concealed in those rocks." A quick run of the area, and all enemies appeared to be dead. But looks can be deceiving. Except in this case, where the looks were correct. The marines yelled compliments at them, but playtime was over. Cortana announced that three Covenant dropships were on their way. The dropships lost more of their troops while landing then on the ground. Linda's aim was just too good. With all enemies cleared, and no more on the way, Cortana called Foehammer one last time. In the pelican, John sat opposite of Linda. Both of them took off their helmets with a hiss of compressed air. And as he looked a Linda's battle scarred face, he could only think of one thing. She was beautiful. And he felt a feeling rise up in him.  
  
***  
  
But Linda quickly shoved that feeling down. They had a professional relationship. . . but yet. . .  
  
***  
  
He had to wait till he was off duty to tell Linda his feelings, but what were these feelings? 


End file.
